Shocking ..

We had a superb thunderstorm round our way last night. The heatwave - all 8 hours of it - came to an abrupt end and the garden got the watering it so badly needed. I couldn't resist grabbing a few shots - hand-held and very much seat of pants stuff (lightning reactions?) - and shoved one on the Book of Face, only to be asked what camera I used! Doh ...

Anyway, that's not the shocking bit! The shocking bit is that yet another newspaper has decided that photographs don't need to be paid for any more. Last month the Manchester Evening News ran six of my Joy Division photographs without so much as a by-your-leave, and now The Guardian wants to play the same game with a selection of shots from my archive. They got in touch with my picture agency to ask if they could use a few and do a little article. So far so good, except there was no fee involved and the water-mark would be minimal on the shots. Bloody hell, it's no wonder the man in the street doesn't think anything of nicking a photograph when 'so-called' esteemed publications like these don't consider a payment to be in order. What bit of 'professional' photographer do you not understand, dear newspapers? Shocking ..